Baghdad Wants Answers on Kurdish Oil

BAGHDAD, (UPI) – Oil produced in the Kurdish provinces of Iraq must be exported through state exporting companies, the Iraqi oil minister said.

Kurdish officials in Iraq are accused of shipping as much as 100,000 barrels of oil per day to Iran. The New York Times, in an early July article, said more than 1,000 tankers leave the Kurdish region of Iraq every day to deliver oil to sanction-strapped Iran.

The Kurdish government in response to the Times said they provided incentives for the private sector to buy oil in an effort to stimulate the Iraqi economy.

“Unfortunately, this creates incentives for the buyers to engage in cross-border trade,” a statement from the Kurdish government read.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said all oil exported from Iraq needs to go through the State Oil Marketing Organization, which has the sole authority to export Iraqi oil, Iraq’s daily newspaper Azzaman reports.